Georgetown Edition | July 2025

From the cover

In water's wake

The overview

Georgetown resident Debbie Spivey went to San Gabriel Park for an early morning walk July 5. As she was making her way toward Blue Hole Park, she began documenting the San Gabriel River rise. “While I was videoing, you could see the water coming towards my feet,” Spivey said. “I took the high ground every chance I got.” Spivey witnessed the beginning of a ooding event that, in Williamson County alone, killed three people, damaged more than 100 buildings, overturned mobile homes, uprooted trees and destroyed lampposts. Over the course of about six hours on July 5—from 5:10 a.m. to 11:25 a.m.—the South Fork San Gabriel River rose from 4.01 feet to 37.36 feet, data from the U.S. Geological Survey showed. Damage across the Georgetown area oers a glimpse into the devastation seen across Central Texas as extreme rainfall resulted in the Guadalupe River also surging beyond its banks July 4. At a July 14 press conference, Gov. Greg Abbott said 131 people have died across the state, and up to 97 people are still missing. In the weeks following the ood, Central Texans are grieving as they navigate how to nd aid and how to help one another.

The river spilled out of its banks, ooded San Gabriel Park and encroached on nearby structures the morning of July 5.

5 ft. 10 ft. 15 ft. 20 ft. 25 ft. 30 ft. 35 ft. 40 ft. 0 ft.

South Fork San Gabriel River water levels in Georgetown, July 18 Between midnight and noon on July 5, the river rose about 32.5 feet.

36.59 ft.

4.11 ft.

NOTE: MEASUREMENTS WERE TAKEN AT 12 AM AND 12 PM WITH A MARGIN OF ERROR OF + 5 MINUTES. SOURCE: UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY COMMUNITY IMPACT

A month’s worth of rain

What happened

Zooming in

A Lake Georgetown rain gage shows the area received more than 4 inches of rain July 4-7.

The ooding was caused by heavy rainfall throughout parts of the Hill Country over the holiday weekend. Ocials with the Georgetown Police Depart- ment and the Williamson County Sheri’s Oce advised residents of apartment complexes and mobile home parks near the river to evacuate the morning of July 5. The city also evacuated the Georgetown Animal Shelter, relocating all the animals to the Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter, as well as other nearby businesses, homes and buildings. Crews working in Williamson County saved 26 people during 10 rescue operations July 5, and the Hope House—a home near Liberty Hill for children with disabilities—was evacuated by helicopter with assistance from Camp Mabry and the Texas National Guard. Of the three Williamson County residents who died during the oods, two died as a result of rush- ing water sweeping cars o the road at low-water crossings, Williamson County Judge Steve Snell said. A structure from Hope House being washed

Georgetown police ocers began blocking the Austin Avenue bridges—which are cur- rently under construction for a rehabilitation project—around 8:20 a.m. July 5, and began moving pedestrians o the bridges around 8:40 a.m., a city ocial said. The north bridge reopened the morning of July 6, while the south bridge reopened July 8, per a city news release. Contractors, rms, engineers and inspectors conducted visual inspections before determining the bridge structure was safe to reopen, a city ocial said. Two Rivers Apartments resident Robert Harbour said that when he evacuated to Granger on July 5, the San Gabriel River’s water level was nearly to the top of the bridge. “I could not believe that I was actually driving on this,” Harbour said. In an email to Community Impact , a spokesperson for the city said ocials closed the bridge “well before there was threat to public safety.”

July 7: 0.41

July 6: 0.02

July 5: 2.66

3.97

July 4: 0.97

Rainfall July 4-7, 2025

Average monthly rainfall in July

SOURCE: NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATIONCOMMUNITY IMPACT

away resulted in the third death, he said. “I do believe the county as a whole did a fantas- tic job,” said Bill Zito, senior director of emergency services for Williamson County, during a July 6 press conference. “We have minimal lives lost because of it.”

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